Page 100 - VERITAS Vol.2 Issue 2

Meanwhile, Josef, held her captive for the next two years, in a tiny
dark basement room with just the basic amenities which were re-

quired. The continued violent sexual abuse led to Elisabeth having

to conceive his child but 10 weeks later she had a miscarriage.

After two years she became pregnant and gave birth to Kerstin.

And later, her second child Stefan. Over the years, she birthed sev-

en children in total. One baby died merely a few days after birth,

and three were sent upstairs to Josef. The other three children lived
underground with Elisabeth and never saw the outside world until

their rescue in 2008.

Josef claimed he found notes with babies found at the doorstep or

hidden among bushes that these kids belonged to Elisabeth and that

she was sending her children to her parents to take adequate care of

them as she couldn’t give.

The cell never got hot water neither a heating system nor air circu-
lation. Yet, Elisabeth tried giving her children the most normal life

she could and even taught them how much she knew in the dark

basement.

The children grew up in unhealthy conditions and had to witness

terrors from a young age as Josef raped their mother in front of

them. This led to lasting physical and psychological damage in all

of them.

Fig.4 : Modelled basement Elizabeth was kept in.
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Veritas Volume: 2, Issue: 2